Copyright Office Deals Blow to Aereo’s Plans

Aereo’s future is looking grimmer than ever following a ruling by the U.S. Copyright Office. The Washington Post reports that the office ruled that Aereo is not a cable company.

The ruling is another setback for the company, which lost a Supreme Court battle with broadcasters over copyright infringement and then tried to argue that it should be treated like a cable company under copyright law, the story notes.

But the Copyright Office said in a letter to Aereo that “Internet retransmissions of broadcast content” aren’t covered by the type of licensing system that Aereo wants to use.

"Section 111 [the part of the Copyright Act that concerns so-called 'compulsory licensing'] is meant to encompass 'localized retransmission services' that are 'regulated as cable systems by the FCC,'" the letter said.

The story adds: “In plain English, the Copyright Office is effectively tossing the hot potato to the Federal Communications Commission. This is potentially very bad for Aereo: If the FCC rules that Aereo is a cable company in the eyes of communications law, then it would likely be forced to pay the broadcasters directly and undermine the company's core business model. And it's a nudge in favor of the broadcasters.”